NORTH HOLLYWOOD – Roger Dunn was so passionate about golf that two decades after he sold his Roger Dunn Golf Shops, he still frequented the stores at least a couple of days a week.

Dunn loved golf, working with clubs and teaching his students. That he was the former owner sure didn’t change that.

“He would try to help anyone he could,” said Max Engler, store manager at the North Hollywood shop for the past 22 years. “He was a very giving person.”

Dunn, who died Aug. 28 at the age of 81, is revered in Southern California for starting the first chain of discount golf shops.

“Money kept so many people away from the game because they couldn’t afford the equipment,” Engler said. “To me, he’s an icon in this industry, as far as the West Coast goes. He was the first to open off-course golf shops.

“He brought down the prices and made it affordable to the average guy.”

Engler first met Dunn when Engler was hired to work at the store in 1988. Dunn had just sold the stores to his son, Steve, but he was still a popular fixture there. Usually wearing a fedora.

There are 18 Roger Dunn Golf Shops in Southern California and five in Hawaii. Worldwide Golf Shops then bought the stores and there are some in Northern California and Arizona, too.

In the back office, Engler has a frame with old pictures of Dunn, including one with Bing Crosby and Bob Hope, and another mid-swing. He signed it for Engler: “To my good friend, Max.”

Many people didn’t recognize Dunn or realize who he was until he mentioned his name when he shook their hands.

“A lot of people didn’t know there was a Roger Dunn,” Engler said. “The stores are well-known. He’d introduced himself. They’d get a big kick out of that.”

Dunn was a caddie at Annandale Golf Club in Pasadena, played at John Muir High and USC, then on the PGA Tour for a couple of years. But he didn’t make enough money – not many professionals then – to sustain a career.

He started teaching at Weddington Golf and Tennis in the early 1960 s, and that always remained his true passion. Then came the golf stores.

Dunn had good stories.

“He’d always tell the story, I believe it was 1962, when he played in the L.A. Open when Jack Nicklaus was just getting started,” Engler said. “He would say he had a better score than Jack, but I think they both missed the cut.”

Engler said he would see Dunn buy clubs at Roger Dunn, then cut them down, regrip them and give them to children who couldn’t afford them.

“He gave golf lessons for free,” Engler said. “He gave refurbished clubs to junior golfers. He was a giver.”

Calabasas resident Mike Sargent, a golf fanatic, knows the locations of all the Roger Dunn Golf Shops in Southern California and has them ranked. His favorite is the Roger Dunn superstore in Santa Ana, which is on his way to Laguna Beach, where his parents live.

Often he’ll take his dog and in the summer when it’s too hot to leave her in the car, he said he tells her: “Fanning, you’re cutting into my Roger Dunn time.”

Sargent frequents Roger Dunn Golf Shops at least a couple of times a month.

“I’ll stop by just to break up the day,” Sargent said. “I go in and might not need anything, but I just mill around. It’s relaxing. It’s like reading a book. Nobody bothers you, but they’ll help you if you need it.

“There’s a friendly feeling. They want you there.”

Roger Dunn has a friendly exchange policy as well. Customers can try clubs out for 90 days, and if they’re not satisfied, they can bring them back. Hassle-free.

That’s one thing Steve Thompson, who was at the North Hollywood shop Tuesday checking out putters, enjoys. He lives in Santa Paula but doesn’t mind the drive.

He’d even met Dunn.

“He was interesting. He liked talking about golf clubs and the different manufacturers,” Thompson said. “He was very cordial.”

Juan Flores, the assistant manager at the North Hollywood Store, has known Dunn for the past 10 years. He didn’t golf before working there, and golf wasn’t what he liked best about Dunn.

“I just loved talking to the guy,” Flores said. “He was passionate about the game of golf, but he was more passionate about his students.

“Nothing gave him more pleasure than seeing his students succeed.”

Flores said Dunn always had the correct change and would jokingly give Flores more change as well, telling him to save it for a cheeseburger.

“He was very generous,” Flores said. “He’d give people clubs if they didn’t have them. He wanted to help people love the game as much as he did.”

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